Former President Ronald Reagan famously quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” The wisdom of his words has been proved over and over again domestically as we have seen government agencies turn small problems into big ones and create catastrophes where there were none previously, all at taxpayer expense, of course. Not content with domestic bumbling, our leaders are turning their attention to fixing the world and especially the Middle East…(God help us!!)

The Obama administration is delighted with the progress of “democracy” in Egypt and is intent on encouraging the process. The fact that the two major Egyptian Islamist parties have captured 62% of the latest voting doesn’t seem to worry the optimists in Washington. Didn’t you know that the Muslim Brotherhood is now a kinder, more gentle, moderate organization (secular, too!) Funny thing is that the so-called “moderate organization” has never repudiated its founding charter which says, “Allah is our objective, the Koran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our way, and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” These are reasonable, tolerant folks with whom US negotiators can certainly hammer out a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and beyond. As I reported last week,

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi

“The Obama administration has turned to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s leading jurist, to mediate secret negotiations between the United States and the Taliban.” This is largely “untapped talent” that the US government can utilize to fix the world!

There does seem to be one glitch in this utopian vision – and that is Israel. Those stubborn Jews just don’t seem to be willing to commit national suicide, and that’s a real problem. President Obama in May, 2011, called for Israel to undertake a “full and phased withdrawal of Israeli forces” from “occupied Palestinian lands” to what he termed “borders based on 1967 lines” – the 1949 armistice lines. Israel’s former Foreign Minister and UN ambassador Abba Eban, in 1967, referred to those lines as the “Auschwitz borders.” The country would, at its most populous places, be only nine miles wide. In making this supposedly helpful demand, the President failed to honor U.S. commitments made to Israel by George W. Bush in 2004, commitments which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress.

But Bush was an “evil war-monger” and the current resident of the White House is intent on resetting the parameters of our relationship with the Muslim world (can you say dhimmitude?). Therefore we must overlook small foibles of the Palestinians – like the refusal of Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, their glorification of murderous terrorists as national heroes, their attempted unity deal with Hamas, etc. And, in order to fix the Middle East, we must force Israel to sit down at the negotiating table with a bunch of savages who want to wipe them out and sign a “peace agreement” which won’t be worth the paper on which it’s written.

Speaking of peace agreements, the new Egyptian government has threatened to cancel the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of March 26, 1979. This was a land for peace deal in which Israel gave up the Sinai in exchange for peace, albeit a cold peace at best, with Egypt. Caroline Glick, in her latest blog, The Land-For-Peace Hoax, asks the question,“will the US act in accordance with its role as guarantor of the peace and demand that the new Egyptian government give Sinai back to Israel?… if the Obama administration or whatever administration is in power when Egypt abrogates the treaty does not issue such a demand, and stand behind it, and if the EU does not support the demand, the entire concept of land-for-peace will be exposed as a hoax.”

Of course it’s a hoax; it was never intended to be anything else. And the chances of real concrete assistance from the US and the rest of the Western world as suggested in Ms. Glick’s article, are pretty remote. If current attitudes toward us don’t change, when we in Israel hear the words, “We’re from the United States government and we’re here to help!” we’d be wise to run in the other direction as fast as we can go!

Whew! We made it through 2011…perhaps just by the skin of our teeth. As we enter the new year let’s pause for a moment to reflect on the current “state of the world.” Since I’m not a prophet I won’t make any prognostications about what will happen in 2012. Those gloom and doom pronouncements are floating around all over the internet (usually with an agenda of some sort – sell products, solicit donations, attract devotees to some individual or group); it doesn’t pay to unduly focus on them or have a panic attack and go hide in a cave somewhere with ten years’ worth of food. Where to focus? I’ll tell you at the end of this article. Meanwhile, where are we at right now?

• The United States is now 15 trillion dollars in debt with 4.5 trillion added in just the last 3 years by a President and congress who love to spend other people’s money.

• Homegrown terrorism in the United States is growing. A Pew Poll of US Muslims has indicated some disturbing trends. Among native-born African-American Muslims, 11% have a favorable opinion of al-Qaeda, 16% say that attacking civilians can be religiously justified at least sometimes and 40% support extremism. In another study by Mordechai Kedar and David Yerushalmi, only 19% of United States’ mosques do not teach jihad violence and/or Islamic supremacism.

The Arab Spring has produced the very opposite of the “freedom” that media and government “talking heads” were promising, with Islamic pro-Shariah regimes coming into power.

• Iran has been flexing its muscles as it tested its first domestically produced nuclear fuel rod and tested a new medium-range surface-to-air missile, all in its race toward the goal of producing a nuclear weapon.

• A shocking article by Andrew McCarthy in Family Security Matters revealed that “that the Obama administration has turned to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’sleading jurist, to mediate secret negotiations between the United States and the Taliban.”

Sheikh Yusuf-al-Qaradawi

I have written about al-Qaradawi before. He is, without exaggeration, evil incarnate! “Qaradawi urges that Islam must dominate the world, under a global caliphate governed by sharia.” His view of the Jews, not just Israel or “settlers”, is straight out of classic Islamic writings:

This is what is told in the Hadith of Ibn-Omar and the Hadith of Abu-Hurairah: “You shall continue to fight the Jews and they will fight you, until the Muslims will kill them. And the Jew will hide behind the stone and the tree, and the stone and the tree will say: ‘Oh servant of Allah, Oh Muslim, this is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him!’ The resurrection will not come before this happens.” This is a text from the good omens in which we believe.

Al-Qaradawi believes this? Some impartial mediator! What could the administration possibly hope to gain by the intervention of a barbaric monster who is still living in the seventh century? The scary thought is – perhaps their intent isn’t to advance American interests. America is the “great Satan,” you know.

• Finally, here in Israel, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is still working on unity talks with Hamas and other Palestinian factions. Why bother to come to the negotiating table with “evil Israel” when you can come to the negotiating table with a “terrorist organization.” On top of that, Abbas has just appointedGeneral Mahmoud Damra to the post of special presidential advisor for district affairs. Damra has the dubious distinction of being one of the 1,027 terrorists released as part of the Gilad Schalit exchange. He was directly involved in several attacks that claimed Israeli lives.

OK already, the state of the world is bleak, and 2012 won’t be a year for the faint-hearted. But, as I said earlier, to focus on the craziness will do nothing but make us crazy or depressed. Where to focus? On the One who is ultimately in charge of everything. His solution to the world’s dilemma is much too simple for most people to grasp but it’s guaranteed to work, whether on an individual or national level…and here it is…

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2Chronicles 7:14

I try very hard to keep my cool while going through the process of reading many articles each week and deciding which ones are the most relevant for that week’s newsletter. But three pieces posted on Ynet.com this Saturday nearly made me blow a fuse.

The first is ‘Israel must mend regional relations‘. At a speech given to the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “warned Israel against viewing the Arab uprisings rattling the Middle East as an excuse to enter a defensive crouch.”Panetta is encouraging Israel specifically to reach out more to Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. Could it be that Mr. Panetta is deliberately ignoring the fact that Egyptian elections have assured Islamist domination in that country? According to Israel National News The Muslim Brotherhood captured more than 40% of the vote and the hardline Islamist Salafist Nour Party received 20%. According to Middle East expert Dr. David Buk’i, “Israel’s worst fears regarding its relationship with Egypt are coming true before its eyes!”

Second, Panetta exclaimed, “With full confidence that the United States is willing and capable of ensuring that Israel can safeguard its security as it takes the risks needed to pursue peace, now is the time for Israel to take bold action and to move towards a negotiated two-state solution.” Full confidence? With these reassuring words, meant to hold onto the Jewish vote back home, Mr. Panetta is obfuscating the feeble track record of the United States when it come to ensuring Israel’s security in times of crises. As P. David Hornik put it, “There’s an inglorious history of the United States and Europe leaving Israel to fend for itself against threats, sometimes even existential ones.”

Third, demanding that Israel take risks for peace and bold actions is getting old. These ultimatums have been aimed at Israel for years, yet when is the last time that you heard, “the Palestinians must take risks and bold actions for peace”? Could there be a bit of a double standard here?

Finally, Panetta saved some choice language for Israel. Asked specifically what Israel should do first (in taking bold actions), Mr. Panetta replied, “Get to the d★✗✲ table” — that is, return to negotiations. This statement totally defies all logic given that Mahmoud Abbas has done everything in his power to avoid negotiations with Israel including unilaterally going to the UN to secure Palestinian statehood.

The second article also relates to Panetta’s speech at the Saban Center: US cautions Israel against solo military op in Iran. Adrian Blomfield, Jerusalem correspondent for Britain’s Telegraph, reported on a private meeting with Panetta, PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister, Ehud Barak. Panetta said that President Obama demanded an unshakable guarantee that Israel would inform the United States before taking any military action against Iran. In Mr. Blomfield’s words, “The two Israelis were notably evasive in their response, according to sources both in Israel and the United States.” This obviously does not sit well with the Obama administration, but given the existential dangers Israel is now facing, she cannot afford to depend on a “friend” who behaves like an enemy.

The third article is another reality-bender: ‘Jew-hate stems from conflict‘. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of course! Ignoring historic Muslim hatred of Jews which dates all the way back to Muhammed himself, Howard Gutman, American ambassador to Belgium,

Howard Gutman

theorized that, “growing global anti-Semitism is linked to Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians.” He even invented a distinction between what he labels “traditional anti-Semitism” and “Muslim hatred for Jews” which hypothetically stems from the ongoing strife between Israel and the Palestinians. In his view “an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism.”

Gutman is a lawyer by training, is Jewish and played a major role in fundraising for the Democratic Party. He was appointed to the post by President Obama. It is clear that Mr. Gutman is only parroting the party line of the Obama administration.

The American envoy’s above speech to a group of Jewish lawyers from across Europe was poorly received. The speaker who followed Gutman, German attorney Nathan Gelbart, sharply rebuked the ambassador when he said: “The ‘Israel critic’ will never state ‘Jews go home’ but is questioning the legality of the incorporation of the State of Israel and therefore the right for the Jewish people to settle in their homeland. He will not say the Jews are the evil of the world but claim that the State of Israel is a major cause for instability and war in the region. There is no other country, no other people on this planet the ‘Israel critic’ would dedicate so much time and devotion as to the case of Israel.”

“I try not to pat myself too much on the back, but this administration has done more for the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration,” Obama said. “We don’t compromise when it comes to Israel’s security … and that will continue.”

The only attendees at that event who might have really believed the president’s words are those who get their news exclusively from The New York Times or mainstream network news. The better informed public (like you, dear reader) can draw its own conclusions. I would encourage all of you to view the latest Youtube video from the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Obama – The Anti-Israel President.

The year is approximately 540 BCE. Belshazzar, king of the great Babylonian Empire is hosting an opulent feast for 1000 of his lords. Oriental monarchs frequently indulged in extravaganzas like this one with the sole purpose of showing off their wealth, their power, their wives or anything else they could think of to make others think they were the greatest human beings (maybe even bordering on the divine) to ever walk the earth. But Belshazzar made two fatal mistakes. First, he was so mesmerized by the myth he had created about himself that he was oblivious to the storm that was brewing around him. Even worse – he messed with the God of Israel. He and his entourage decided it would be a really cool thing to bring out the gold cups and other vessels that had been looted from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and use them to toast the power of the king and the greatness of his pagan gods. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote what was, to all those assembled in the hall, an unintelligible message. The mood in the room changed from drunken festivity to utter terror. The only one able to interpret the message was the prophet Daniel. This is what it said…

God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting Your kingdom has been divided… (Dan. 5:26-28)

That very night the king was assassinated and his kingdom was handed over to others.

Is the handwriting on the wall of our world today? Are our leaders, like King Belshazzar, blithely going along, too enchanted by the fantasies of their own making to pay attention to the looming catastrophe that may not be as far in the future as many of them hope? More direly – are more and more people and nations messing with the God of Israel? Scripture warns, he who touches you (Israel and the Jewish people) touches the apple of His (God’s) eye. (Zech. 2:8)

• Is a worldwide cataclysm brewing in Iran? A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) shows strong, “credible” evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Rather than being a shock, this was simply confirmation of facts that have been known but ignored or withheld for a long time. According to Caroline Glick, “Since Iran’s nuclear weapons program was first revealed to the public in 2004, Israel has provided in-depth intelligence information proving Iran’s malign intentions to the likes of Sarkozy, Obama and the UN.”

Won’t sanctions and diplomacy work? NO! First of all, we’re not dealing with rational, albeit evil, political leaders. The Iranian mullahs and their puppet, Ahmadinejad, are demonically-driven, fanatical theocrats whose ambition is to bring about the apocalypse so that the long-awaited 12th imam will come to earth. No big deal if most of their nation perishes in the process!! And now it seems that they have China on their side. According to Fox News, “The Chinese-Iranian relationship has, in fact, been deepening over the last few years.”

So what are Israel’s options? Will she “go it alone” against Iran in what would be a very risky mission? Many feel such actions would precipitate a regional war involving Hezbollah and Hamas along with Iran. Analysts predict that in the event of such a war, the cost of a barrel of oil could dramatically rise to $175 – $200 a barrel. This would not only inflame passions against Israel but against the Jewish people as a whole. It doesn’t take much to arouse Jew-hatred these days. Remember Israel’s Operation Cast Lead offensive in December 2008/January 2009? What was a totally justifiable action meant to protect innocent civilians in the south of the country from incessant rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza became an excuse for virulent world-wide demonstrations against the “hateful Jews”. For an excellent power point of the anti-Semitic repercussions of Cast Lead, click here and then click on General (in the right hand column and then click on January 2009 – In the wake of Operation Cast Lead). Then there’s this Youtube video of a female Hamas sympathizer in Fort Lauderdale screaming at Jewish people “go back to the oven.”

• Is the world poking God in the eye by their treatment of Israel and its leaders? No one claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is any kind of a prophet or a holy man – but he is the representative of the nation, and when he is the recipient of undeserved antagonism it’s a symptom of a deeper problem. While we hear empty rhetoric claiming, “Israel remains our important partner and key strategic ally,” the truth comes out from behind closed doors. The following exchange took place during a break at the G20 summit in Cannes, France. Presidents Sarkozy and Obama thought the mics were turned off and were having a confidential little chat about Bibi.

Sarkozy: “I can’t stand to see him any more, he’s a liar.”
Obama: “You are fed up with him, but me, I have to deal with him every day.”
The White House refused to confirm or deny the exchange between the two.

Far from being an aberration, the above unscripted comment is part of a continual pattern of disrespect from President Obama. When Prime Minister Netanyahu came to the White House in March 2010, he was given third-world treatment. Obama followed that up at various times by outrageous demands. Israel should cease all construction in Judea and Samaria and in East Jerusalem, even on land that is not being contested. And Israel should begin discussions with the PA based on a return to the pre-1967 borders, also known as the “Auschwitz Borders.” Obviously this is the most anti-Israel president the U.S. has ever had!

• Is the handwriting on the wall in the U.S.? Not yet to the extent that it is in Europe but universities, the institutions that are training the next generation of national leaders, reek with Jew-hatred.

On October 28 at Kent State University, Professor Julio Pino felt obligated to exercise his First Amendment right by shouting out “Death to Israel” at a lecture given by guest speaker, Ishmael Khaldi, a former Israeli consul official who is a Bedouin. Four days earlier Khaldi appeared at the University of Michigan where approximately 60 students walked out on his message. One of the leaders of the protest, Bilal Baydoun, was quoted in the Arab American News, “our goal is to preventsomeone like this from even arriving on campus in the first place and we feel confident that we will be able to accomplish this as we continue to spread awareness.” Free speech and free exchange of ideas on the university campus have become a thing of the past as Arab petro dollars increasingly flow in to fund these bastions of learning and as hard core leftists serve in tenured positions of power.

Pro-Islamic speakers can spout their venom with impunity at campus venues but even questions from the audience are carefully screened. When Gail Rubin, co-chair of the University of California Davis chapter of StandwithUs, a pro-Israel organization, attempted to challenge lecturer Professor Gilbert Achcar’s skewed opinion that the Grand Mufti’s (Haj Amin al-Husseini) anti-Semitism had only a minimal impact on both Jews and Arabs, two professors angrily told her“the questions were insulting and to either stop or leave the room.” As she described it, “So much for free speech and scholarly discourse in academia.”

• Incitement eventually leads to violence. This past Friday (November 11) residents of Flatbush, Brooklyn were awakened to find that three cars had been torched and the area had been defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti.

The big danger in the western world is that it’s easy to become so comfortable or so involved in our daily lives that we simply pass everything off thinking things have to get better – it’ll all go away eventually. But maybe it won’t.

As tens of thousands of demonstrators march through the streets of Europe, the chants are modified but the message remains substantially intact: ‘Hamas, Hamas, Hamas — Jews to the Gas’. Or, more simply: ‘Death to the Jews’. Many European Jews, even well-established, affluent Jews, have been checking the suitcasethey keep packed under the bed. They have been here before and many are (albeit reluctantly) reading the writing on the wall.

The writing on the wall may be a little more faint in the U.S., but perhaps it’s time we begin reading it.

You and your administration have relentlessly demanded that we apologize to the various and assorted lunatic dictators and jihadists in our region. Evidently, in your opinion, we are the cause of every conflagration in the Middle East. So here, dear Madame Secretary of State, are our apologies.

To Turkey – Mr. Erdogan, we’re very sorry that we didn’t blow your ship and its peaceful protesters out of the water when it ignored our warnings to stop. Yes, the world would have been furious – but they were furious anyway. And, yes, we would have deprived you of the boat which you are now using as a museum whose goal is to teach new generations of “holy warriors” how noble it is to ambush us, beat us and then die for the sake of Allah. But we would have spared our own boys pain and humiliation and possibly would have cut short the endless investigations and recriminations that followed. In any case, you probably won’t see Israeli soldiers armed with paint ball guns again in the near future.

Hillary, your administration threatened us that it would be difficult for the US to convince other countries to reject Palestinian statehood unless we apologize – so we’ve done it! And in case you’ve forgotten what the real purpose of the flotilla was, here’s a little video to refresh your memory.

To Egypt – We’re sorry that you suffer from uncontrollable Muslim rage and refused to accept our apologies on the death of some of your border police this past Thursday. Actually what we really regret is our somewhat blasé attitude toward your islamist tilt and your possible collusion in the bloody events that unfolded on Route 12 near Eilat. We should have closed that road; that way you (or the terrorists from Gaza who used your territory for their base) wouldn’t have been driven to attack us. It’s all our fault!

Hillary – we know it’s vacation time for most folks, including President Obama, so in case you didn’t notice what happened on Thursday, August 18th: Israel came under a three-pronged attack from Palestinian terrorists from Gaza who infiltrated through Egypt’s Sinai border near the southern port city of Eilat. As a result 8 Israelis were killed: 6 civilians, 1 soldier and 1 police officer. In addition there were at least 40 wounded.

Sorry, we know that numbers are boring, so we’d like to put some faces on those statistics. Consider two sisters, Flora Gaz and Shulamit Karlinsky and their husbands heading to Eilat for a vacation. Their car was hit by an anti-tank missile and then, not satisfied with that, the terrorists approached and finished them off by firing shots into their bodies. The sisters worked in daycare centers for three- and four-year-old children in Kfar Saba. Both were well-known and respected educators. The Gaz family was expecting their first grandchild in three months.

The response of the world to the shedding of Jewish blood? As usual – silence! Israel asked the 15 member United Nations Security Council presently led by Lebanon (aka Hezbollahstan) to condemn the terrorist assault. Lebanon refused the request and demanded that the Israeli draft be amended, for the sake of moral equivalence, to include criticism of Israel’s retaliatory air strikes on Gaza. Since the resolution required a unanimous vote, it failed! Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, responded, “It is no coincidence that Lebanon – the only member of the council that obstructed this statement — is itself dominated by a terrorist organization [Hezbollah]… The silence now echoing from the Security Council Chamber is a sad reminder that the United Nations is too often deaf and blind when it comes to acts of terror committed against the people of Israel.” How about you and your president, Hillary? Are you also deaf and blind or are you purposely acting that way?

Finally – to the US – forgive us for bowing to your pressure to withdraw from Gaza and limit ourselves to politically correct warfare. We know we’ve caused you untold anxiety as you watch (or try to ignore) those poor enraged Palestinians shooting missiles and rockets in our direction because they have no other way to express their frustration. Our civilians with their annoying schools, hospitals and apartments just happen to be in their way. Again – our fault!

But, Hillary, as repulsive as it may be for you, just put yourself in our shoes for a few minutes and imagine what it’s like for us. First for those Israelis who were uprooted from their homes and farms in Gaza for the sake of “peace”. Here’s a child’s view….

Then there are the civilians who live within range of Palestinian rockets. As of this morning (Sunday) over 80 rockets have been fired into Israel affecting cities such as Ofakim, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. 500,000 people are vulnerable and must take shelter when the air raid sirens go off, some with as little as fifteen seconds to respond to the warning.

Here’s another face for you – Yossi Shoshan, 38, heard the air raid sirens go off and was hurrying to protect his 9-month-pregnant wife. He didn’t make it. He leaves behind a young widow and a son who will never know his father.

One final question for you, Hillary – why is the Obama administration going to great lengths to erase Israel off the White House website? Didn’t hear about it? Check out the article White House Mischief by Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum. Seems that every former mention of “Jerusalem, Israel” is now simply “Jerusalem”.

Ah-h-h! Summertime in the Arab Middle East. Temperatures sizzle, stores close during the heat of the day, and everyone seems to look for a shady place to nap for a couple of hours. Nothing stirs, even stray cats. In conditions like these a casual observer might reasonably surmise that there wouldn’t be enough human energy available to make trouble. Unfortunately, we’re not dealing with reasonable people – so…

For the fourth time in Egypt the gas pipeline that supplies natural gas to Israel and Jordan has been sabotaged. With “bad old Mubarak” out of the way and “pro-democracy reformers” in the ascendancy, the Arab Spring has blossomed into a long hot summer of lawlessness and violence.

Not to be outdone by their Egyptian counterparts, Palestinian terrorists fired five Kassam rockets at western Negev communities. The response – the Israel Air Force carried out air strikes against a total of six targets throughout the Gaza Strip overnight Thursday. IAF aircraft also bombed two smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza and four terrorist targets in the northern and central parts of the Hamas-controlled territory.

To the north the Syrians are still brutally killing those of their own people who dare to express dissatisfaction with the rule of President Bashar Assad. At least 32 people were killed during Friday protests throughout country. (Ever notice how Friday Muslim prayer services get people fired up to commit murder and mayhem? Hm-m-m… gives you an idea about whom they’re worshiping – hint – it’s not God). Iran, fearing for its own stability, has been actively assisting Syria in putting down the opposition, according to senior Israeli sources.

Then there’s Lebanon, the realm of Hezbollah. The summer siesta of these peaceful folk has been disturbed by the very thought of Israel developing its own off-shore natural gas reserves. Now that Israel has poured millions of shekels into exploration and mapping out the gas field, a field that apparently has enough gas to supply the entire country for the next 25 years, our friendly northern neighbors have decided that infidels like us don’t deserve a treasure like that – it’s theirs!

Don’t look for sanity on the other side of the pond either. Even without the brutal Middle Eastern sun beating down on their heads, Western leaders are delusional. Caroline Glick examines Obama’s dangerous policy of appeasement which has the potential to start a deadly conflict resulting in massive loss of life.

Speaking of delusions, there’s the Palestinian Authority’s attempt to gain statehood. Forget the fact that the PA doesn’t represent anyone, has put off elections because they’re scared to death of a Hamas takeover and so are ruling illegally. None of that is important – no – the crucial thing is to save face. Step one is to bypass negotiations with Israel because that would reveal impotence. Then find a sympathetic ear – like the Arab League – and gain their endorsement. Headline in the Jerusalem Post, July 14, reads: “PA welcomes Arab League support for UN statehood bid”. Next, using the Arab League endorsement as leverage, lobby uncommitted UN members. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the Arab ministers decided to send letters to the countries that still haven’t recognized the Palestinian state asking them to do so ahead of the UN vote in September. He also expressed hope that the US would refrain from vetoing the statehood bid, noting that the Arab ministers had unanimously backed the PA plan.

If all this madness about Palestinian statehood sounds like déjà vu all over again, please read David Meir-Levi’s article, 31 Opportunities for Statehood Squandered in Favor of Genocide. This is an article that no self-respecting “progressive” journalist, politician or academic would dare to read for fear that it may actually change his views about Israel. Why risk being confused by facts when there’s dogma to be defended? Most of you are familiar with the George Santayana quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. We’re now at 31 times and counting!